Page 8 



BETTER FRUIT 



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gen: but in no case did the effects ex- 

 tentl for more than a few inches from 

 where the materials were used. The 

 problem certainly looked hopeless. It 

 involved a mixture of the chemistry of 

 poisons, the soil physics of penetration, 

 diffusion and absorption of fumigants, 

 the botany of what will harm straw- 

 berry plants and what is safe to use, 

 the entomology of a weevil that won't 

 stay killed, and the practical considera- 

 tions of cost, labor and applicability. 



Of the soil fumigants the cyanide gas 

 and the carbon disulphid had alone 

 surely killed enough insects to give 

 promise. The cyanide was discarded 

 because it destroyed the plants and be- 

 cause it is one of the most dangerous 

 of poisons to man. With the carbon 

 disulphid then the problem was to 

 prevent its diffusing out of the soil, and 

 this was readily accomplished by cov- 

 ering the plants with oilcloth. Prelimi- 

 nary tests were more than gratifying: 

 the weevils, the larvae and the pupae 

 were killed even with small doses if the 

 fumes were only confined. The fumes, 

 being heavy, permeated the soil and 

 reached not only the weevils several 



inches down, but the wireworms, tipu- 

 lids and all other insects as well. 



The modus operandi of the treatment 

 is absurdly simple. First search out 

 the spots in the rows where the weevil 

 has practically killed the plants. Next 

 observe by closely looking about the 

 base of the adjacent plants whether the 

 weevil is present and how far it ex- 

 tends beyond the sickly plants. Then 

 cover the infested part of the row with, 

 say, a 30-foot strip of canvas or cloth 

 sheeting previously made gas tight by 

 a painting with linseed oil. If care is 

 used to prevent tearing, cheap oilcloth 

 may be substituted for the oiled canvas. 

 Every five feet under the cloth place 

 a saucer containing two-thirds of an 

 ounce of carbon disulphid, which 

 should cost less than one cent, and 

 leave in place for at least six hours. 

 This completes the treatment; but care 

 must be taken to keep the edges of the 

 canvas tight against the ground, which 

 can easily be done by shoveling some 

 earth along the edges of the cloth to 

 weight it snugly down. The cloth 

 should not touch the saucer, since the 

 liquid should evaporate quickly. If the 

 plants do not support the cloth sulli- 



ciently a strip of wood propped up to 

 just clear the plants can serve to sup- 

 port the covering and permit diffusion 

 of the fumes. Carbon disulphid is an 

 explosively inflammable liquid requir- 

 ing as careful handling as gasoline and 

 its fumes should not be unduly inhaled. 

 While the treated plants may wilt, espe- 

 cially through the sweating under the 

 cloth during the heat of the clay, the 

 injury is not permanent. 



While the method of using this treat- 

 ment is simple and its cost is not at all 

 prohibitive as compared with the value 

 of the crop at stake, it must not be 

 misunderstood that we have worked 

 out a process that automatically con- 

 trols the pest. It requires patient, care- 

 ful labor to insure eradication, and as 

 the time for best utilizing the treatment 

 is probably limited to the few days 

 immediately after the crop is gathered, 

 before migration and egg-laying begin, 

 enough equipment is needed to provide 

 for the infested field. The treatment is 

 mainly intended to kill the weevil where 

 it has already destroyed the plants and 

 to check its further spread through the 

 fields. If the weevils are not checked 

 the damage to be done by the next gen- 

 eration can well be fifty-fold greater. 

 Its use can be extended to the acreages 

 where there is a light scattering of the 

 weevil here and there, and where fields 

 are as valuable as those at Kennewick 

 it would assuredly be advisable to en- 

 deavor to reclaim them. It is either the 

 cost of a treatment or quitting the berry 

 business. 



There are still questions enough about 

 the weevil that are unanswered: How 

 will the covered fumes act in other 

 kinds of soils? Has the weevil laid 

 eggs by the time the crop is off, and if 

 so, what effect will carbon disulphid 

 have upon them? Is not late fall or 

 early spring a better time to make the 

 application? Is the life history of the 

 insect in other localities in Washington 

 sufficiently like at Kennewick to depend 

 on timing the treatment elsewhere by 

 the maturing of the berries? To these 

 questions we haven't the answer, for in 

 this little study we had but three weeks' 

 opportunity to "bedevil the farmer." 



Bulletin on Spraying Stone Fruits 

 Brown rot of stone fruits, California 

 Peach Blight, causing fruit spot of 

 peaches, and many other destructive 

 pests and diseases may all be greatly 

 reduced by proper methods which are 

 set forth in the new bulletin "Spraying 

 Stone Fruits," just off the press at Ore- 

 gon Agricultural College. Of all the 

 fruits, none are more important in 

 the present war emergency than the 

 stone fruits. Dried prunes and canned 

 peaches and cherries form an impor- 

 tant part of the food stores of the na- 

 tion and the army abroad. This bulle- 

 tin gives the latest information on 

 methods of controlling insect pests and 

 fungous diseases affecting these impor- 

 tant fruits and will aid growers in the 

 patriotic duty of helping Uncle Sam to 

 increase food production by reducing 

 crop losses clue to these troubles. It 

 may be had free for the asking. Send 

 for your copy today to Oregon Agricul- 

 tural College, Corvallis. 



